Gallimathias musicum


Gallimathias musicum in D major, K. 32, is a quodlibet composed in March 1766 by the ten-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during his grand tour of Europe. It was first performed at The Hague on 11 March 1766. A typical performance of this piece lasts twenty minutes.

Instrumentation and structure

The work is scored for two oboes, two horns in D, bassoon, mainly colla parte with double bass, harpsichord and strings, and consists of seventeen movements:
  1. Molto allegro
  2. Andante in D minor
  3. Allegro
  4. Pastorella in G major
  5. Allegro
  6. Allegretto in A major
  7. Allegro
  8. Molto adagio in G major
  9. Allegro in C major
  10. Largo in D minor
  11. Allegro
  12. Andante in F major
  13. Allegro in E-flat major
  14. Menuet in F major
  15. Adagio in D minor
  16. Presto
  17. Fugue in F major
A galimatias is a term for nonsense, gobbledygook, a hodgepodge. Not all instruments feature in every movement. No. 8 contains the lyrics, Eitelkeit! Eitelkeit! Ewig's Verderben! Wenn all's versoffen ist, gibts nichts zu erben., but no singing voice is specified.